blackeyed peas

It's been a while since I tried cooking a batch, but since I have sacks and sacks from a closeout sale it was time to try them again.  Last time they tasted like dirt.  This time I tried to follow directions more closely.  I didn't have the ham hock the recipe called for, but I did have some bone-in slices of Smithfield-style salt cure ham.  What a difference!  Flavor is 100% better.  However you choose to put it in, some protein, salt and fat really helps.

The only thing I need to figure out now is how to get them to cook up thick.  4 hours in the crock pot made them soft, but there's still a lot of excess water.  They don't act like regular peas, kidney or lima beans - they don't split and thicken into a thick bean stew.  Maybe they just need more cooking time - maybe a couple hours in the oven at 450F?

If you add salt to pulses (legumes) during cooking the skins tend to toughen up.  Maybe if you cooked them until tender first and then added the salt ham for the next stage and to add the flavour you might find they split and thickened.

when we make red beans and rice the receipe we have says to mash some of the beans in the last 30 minutes of cooking. some times we forget and it makes a HUGE difference. without mashing we have red bean soup, with mashing we get a nice creamy texture.

i've not done this with black-eyed peas, but i don't see why it wouldn't work with them too.

Thanks.  I've cooked dried green peas and limas with salty ham before and had no trouble getting things to thicken up.  I think these blackeyes must be tough skinned compared to other legumes.  They act like lentils.  I'll try mashing a few of them, toss the whole works back into the crock pot for a couple more hours and see what happens.  I'd be very pleased if I could turn this bean soup into southern-style cassoulet.

I love black-eyed peas!  When I cook legumes and it's too watery (mainly because I guesstimated the water amount), I use my stick-blender and pulse a few times.  I also add some Liquid Smoke to add the flavor of the missing ham.  When I'm cooking in the crock pot, I turn it on low and leave it overnight.  They're usually ready to eat by morning.  Sometimes 8 hours isn't enough in the crock pot.  If I need to let them cook longer I will leave them cooking all day too.  (Don't forget the onions!)  Now I want some-I'll have to keep that in mind when I go shopping tomorrow.  Hope that helps!  Enjoy!